THE POEM

As one of the many millions who experienced the Great National Exhalation following this year’s inauguration, I thought I might write a poem that registered this palpable shift. The two stanzas here divide the new sensations into those felt by the physical body and those affecting the imagination. After all, we know that with calmer breathing comes more open thinking, even wonder. I don’t know about your goldfish, much less your dancing bear, but mine appear to be much less troubled now, almost back to their sprightly old selves.

Billy Collins is a former two-term U.S. poet laureate (2002-03) and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most recent collection is Whale Day: And Other Poems (Random House, 2020).

AFTER THE INAUGURATION

Citizens from all over the country are reporting a lowering of the shoulders. They say they are breathing more easily, as they inhale and exhale this abundance of American air. I, too, have slowed back down to my old speed of 23 mph, and my pulse is as slow as a sundial.

In addition, my polar bear is dancing in the living room again. The goldfish is singing in her glass bowl, and the tall palms outside seem to be acting more like themselves. Things appear to be getting back to normal, the pencil in my hand is saying, as it hops across the page once more.